In this research, the feasibility of airborne wind energy systems (AWES) in wind farms was investigated. Thereafter an optimal layout for a wind farm using AWES was constructed. The EU seeks to have carbon-neutral power generation by 2050, for which wind energy could be a viable solution. Conventional wind turbines, however, use up a lot of resources. An alternative in AWES is considered because of their larger power-to-mass ratio.

First two models are introduced. A modified version of the Park model by Jensen (1983) and the Kaufman-Martin model by Kaufman-Martin et al. (2022). These were then used to predict the wake effects of AWES. To compare them to reality, the Offshore Windpark Egmond aan Zee (OWEZ) was replicated. Here, instead of the conventional wind turbines of model Vestas 90-3MW, AWES of model Makani M600 were placed. It was found that the wake effects generated by the Makani M600 were significant and not negligible, as previously thought. The wind was fixed to come from one direction where the systems were completely submerged in the wake of its downstream component. Here the power-to-mass ratio of the replicated OWEZ was 3.9 times higher than that of the OWEZ.

Using the same dimension of the OWEZ, a genetic algorithm was used to find an optimal layout for an AWES wind farm. The Park model was used for this algorithm. In the first simulation the algorithm was allowed to place the Makani M600 systems freely across the area. For the second simulation the placement was grid-constrained, to correspond to real-life situations more. It was found that the power-to-mass ratio was 5.7 and 5 times higher than that of the OWEZ respectively. Therefore, in conclusion, the wake effects of AWES are considerable and because of its higher power-to-mass ratio it is preferable to use AWES instead of conventional wind turbines for future development.